It has been long since I've established myself as a Go Green enthusiast and here was a chance to prove it in public. So here goes my 2 cents on the deal....
The adrenaline cycling really caught up only after buying a Hero hawk. My cycling days started with a rented avon blue for about Rs.2 an hour. Those 2 Rs. certainly meant a lot. Then I graduated to a BSA-SLR ladies cycle given to be by my uncle from madurai. At this point you must be wondering hehe... a ladies cycle what an idiot but i was in about 7th/8th STD and this cycle was quite fast as it had thin tyres and I had the experience of stopping it sideways by using only the rear brakes and kick up some dust. The next cycle in the list was HerculesMTB Canon Barrell. This I'd say was a lovely cycle. (any cycle being owned by a cycling enthusiast is the best ;-) for him ). When I say lovely, I meant the ride quality the smoothness. With 6 gears it was tried and tested on almost all possible terrain in bangalore. Anyway the next and current cycle turns out to be my m-hawk (thats my Hero Hawk which had naming ceremony even before the purchase). I must have easily clocked about 800 km on this bike in all.
I see an article regarding the BSA cyclothon in paper and also the website(i dont know how I ended up there but what the heck.. I'm contributing to a go green program so its all good). The next thing I did was called Deepak as he is go Green guy ( AS green as Jim Carey in "The MASK" :-P ). Sure as it turned out to be he was registered in for the corporate ride. I missed the due date by 2 days else I'd have checked with my manager for sponsorship for the ride. As last date to register online was 20th, I registered with the BIB no # 1749. Since the distance between my home and the start point was 27 kms I decided to leave the bike a day earlier at my colleagues house in whitefield. This morning I started from my home at about 6:40 and reached my friends house in about 45 minutes. A quick inspection of the cycle and a strange noise while pedaling. My heart missed a beat..!!!. I quickly leaned down to check if the derailleur had some issue but i was able to figure out someone had fiddled with the front derailleur and shifted to the top gear. Shifted down and everything was "Tested OK". Left my friend's house and reached the entry spot just in time. I did get a chance to follow the professional cyclists in the elite racing. After the ambulance followed the last cyclist I tried to keep up with them but I was no match. I met Deepak at the site who was all pepped up and game for a start. There were quite a few Hawks that I spotted but they were overshadowed by the huge number of meridas, firefoxes, BTwin and Hercules MTB treks. As I was an individual participant, I started with the first batch which kicked off the non-competitive marathon. What a feeling to be at the start line with the crowd cheering and two cameras pointed direcly at you. (1 overhead and other still) With a ... Woooo..hoooo!! we left the start line at 8:40. I was able to maintain a good pace and kept overtaking quite a lot of cyclists. There was availability of water enroute at 3 stops and I managed to gulp in a couple of bottles. A sea of yellow helmets leading and trailing me looked like construction engineers on the run. The helmets were strong but no thermocol inside and the neck strap was too tight. One might actually choke as they are only elastic without any adjustment. I managed to finish the two laps in a comfy 50 minutes. The thrill of entering the finish line is indescribable. I imagined the professional cyclists who get to experience the thrill from the crowds cheer and support. I would count myself in the first 100 who finished the marathon. All in all a hearty experience with about over 5000 participants. Attached are some Pics I managed to click at the event.
The adrenaline cycling really caught up only after buying a Hero hawk. My cycling days started with a rented avon blue for about Rs.2 an hour. Those 2 Rs. certainly meant a lot. Then I graduated to a BSA-SLR ladies cycle given to be by my uncle from madurai. At this point you must be wondering hehe... a ladies cycle what an idiot but i was in about 7th/8th STD and this cycle was quite fast as it had thin tyres and I had the experience of stopping it sideways by using only the rear brakes and kick up some dust. The next cycle in the list was HerculesMTB Canon Barrell. This I'd say was a lovely cycle. (any cycle being owned by a cycling enthusiast is the best ;-) for him ). When I say lovely, I meant the ride quality the smoothness. With 6 gears it was tried and tested on almost all possible terrain in bangalore. Anyway the next and current cycle turns out to be my m-hawk (thats my Hero Hawk which had naming ceremony even before the purchase). I must have easily clocked about 800 km on this bike in all.
I see an article regarding the BSA cyclothon in paper and also the website(i dont know how I ended up there but what the heck.. I'm contributing to a go green program so its all good). The next thing I did was called Deepak as he is go Green guy ( AS green as Jim Carey in "The MASK" :-P ). Sure as it turned out to be he was registered in for the corporate ride. I missed the due date by 2 days else I'd have checked with my manager for sponsorship for the ride. As last date to register online was 20th, I registered with the BIB no # 1749. Since the distance between my home and the start point was 27 kms I decided to leave the bike a day earlier at my colleagues house in whitefield. This morning I started from my home at about 6:40 and reached my friends house in about 45 minutes. A quick inspection of the cycle and a strange noise while pedaling. My heart missed a beat..!!!. I quickly leaned down to check if the derailleur had some issue but i was able to figure out someone had fiddled with the front derailleur and shifted to the top gear. Shifted down and everything was "Tested OK". Left my friend's house and reached the entry spot just in time. I did get a chance to follow the professional cyclists in the elite racing. After the ambulance followed the last cyclist I tried to keep up with them but I was no match. I met Deepak at the site who was all pepped up and game for a start. There were quite a few Hawks that I spotted but they were overshadowed by the huge number of meridas, firefoxes, BTwin and Hercules MTB treks. As I was an individual participant, I started with the first batch which kicked off the non-competitive marathon. What a feeling to be at the start line with the crowd cheering and two cameras pointed direcly at you. (1 overhead and other still) With a ... Woooo..hoooo!! we left the start line at 8:40. I was able to maintain a good pace and kept overtaking quite a lot of cyclists. There was availability of water enroute at 3 stops and I managed to gulp in a couple of bottles. A sea of yellow helmets leading and trailing me looked like construction engineers on the run. The helmets were strong but no thermocol inside and the neck strap was too tight. One might actually choke as they are only elastic without any adjustment. I managed to finish the two laps in a comfy 50 minutes. The thrill of entering the finish line is indescribable. I imagined the professional cyclists who get to experience the thrill from the crowds cheer and support. I would count myself in the first 100 who finished the marathon. All in all a hearty experience with about over 5000 participants. Attached are some Pics I managed to click at the event.
My Friend Deepak..!!
Category wise gathering..
Thats me...!!!!
At the KTPO start point of cyclathon..
Gud job buddy..keep the green mission in mind.
ReplyDeleteThanks deeps.. Looks like i may upgrade to a better cycle soon but wondering if i should go for a proper roadbike or a hybrid....
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice write up. Nice to see the Green Men Gang grow BIG! This must have been fun! Looks like you enjoyed thoroughly.
ReplyDeleteMy only complaint, wish u guys got a better helmet!
Hey thanks MD. Yeah.. but i guess this was a budget run with a lot of participants.. So atleast they weren't given elastic straps fastened to empty coconut shells.. ;-)
ReplyDelete